Oscars Betting Odds and Tips: Who will win the Academy Awards in 2017?

With the eagerly anticipated Academy Awards (otherwise, of course, known as the Oscars) just around the corner, we’ll be giving you our betting tips and predictions on who we believe will claim Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Actress gongs at the 89th awards ceremony, which takes place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California.

In what was a pretty incredible 2016 for cinema, there are several genuine contenders spread across a number of different genres and categories ready to battle it out for film’s biggest awards. With the likes of La La Land, which leads the way with 14 nominations, Hacksaw Ridge, Manchester by the Sea and Fences – among others – the Best Picture gong has several worthy candidates.

In terms of actors and actresses, outstanding performers such as Casey Affleck, Denzel Washington, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Natalie Portman and many others will be waiting with bated breath to see if their acting skills have taken them to Oscar glory.

Let’s take a look at the nominees, the favourites and the outsiders, and pick out who we believe will be performing their winning speeches in Hollywood in late February. And be sure to check out odds comparison for the latest betting value!

Last year, Spotlight, with Michael Sugar, Steve Golin, Nicole Rocklin and Blye Pagon Faust came out on top in the Best Picture category. The American biographical drama about the Boston Globe’s uncovering of a massive scandal beat The Big Short, Bridge of Spies, Brooklyn, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian, The Revenant and Room to land Hollywood’s biggest gong.

This time around Arrival, Fences, Hacksaw Ridge, Hell or High Water, Hidden Figures, La La Land, Lion, Manchester by the Sea and Moonlight are up for this year’s Best Picture award.

La La Land, directed by Damien Chazelle and starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, is the huge favourite to lift the prize. Betfred’s best price of 2/11 tells you everything you need to know. Moonlight comes in as second favourite, with Bet365 offering odds of 9/1, then Hidden Figures (20/1 at Betfred) and Manchester by the Sea (25/1 at Bet365) are the next most fancied films.

To be honest, it would be an almighty shock if Chazelle’s romantic musical comedy-drama did not win the Best Picture accolade. The movie, which is about a musician and an aspiring actress meeting and falling in love in Los Angeles, has been exceptionally well received.

For those of you looking to back an outsider, we believe Bet365’s eye-opening price of 25/1 for Manchester by the Sea to cause an upset, is your best choice. Kenneth Lonergan’s drama, starring Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams and Kyle Chandler, has also been highly rated.

Denis Villeneuve (Arrival), Mel Gibson (Hacksaw Ridge), Damien Chazelle (La La Land), Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea and Barry Jenkins (Moonlight) are all up for this year’s Best Director award. Last year, Alejandro G Inarritu with Revenant, took home the prize.

With La La Land expected to take the Best Picture, Damien Chazelle is the strong favourite to land Best Director as a consequence. The best price you can get on Chazelle to come out on top is 1/7 with Ladbrokes.

Barry Jenkins, who’s up for the award for his work on Moonlight is coming in at 9/1 (Coral) and you can get Kenneth Lonergan with Manchester by the Sea at 10/1 at Betfred. Once again, although La La Land and Chazelle are set to seal the Best Picture and Best Director accolades, these two are set to be their closest challengers.

In terms of value, we feel Betfred’s 10/1 for Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea) could be worth having a small punt on. The New Yorker, who’s directed the likes of Analyze This, You Can Count On Me and Margaret, as well as playing a part in Gangs of New York, will be hoping his critically-acclaimed film can cause an upset.

Despite La La Land looking set to steal the show overall, Casey Affleck’s performance as Lee Chandler in Manchester by the Sea has made the 41-year-old favourite to land the Best Actor award. Affleck, who won Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama with Manchester by the Sea at the Golden Globe’s, could be on his way to an Oscar for the same picture in February. Affleck is as short as 1/2 (Sky Bet) to take the award.

As for Gosling in La La Land, the Drive star is available at the tempting price of 20/1 with Betfred. Sandwiched in between Affleck and Gosling is Denzel Washington with his performance as Troy Maxson in Fences, with the Academy Award Best Actor – for his performance in Training Day – priced at 7/4 with Coral.

Andrew Garfield is available at 40/1 (Bet365) and you can get Viggo Mortensen at 100/1 with the same bookie. However, we can’t see past Casey Affleck and Manchester by the Sea for this one.

Leonard DiCaprio finally won an Oscar last year, after putting on an inspiring performance as Hugh Glass in Inarritu’s epic Revenant. Despite several nominees over the years, DiCaprio had never previously picked up the Best Actor gong at the Academy Awards.

Brie Larson (Room) took home the Best Actress accolade last February in LA. Despite Ed Guiney’s independent drama film having a pretty quiet night, Larson was a worthy winner as her role as Joy “Ma” Newsome.

Although her La La Land on-screen colleague, Ryan Gosling, is not favourite to win the Best Actor award, Emma Stone is the clear favourite to lift the Best Actress accolade for her performance in Chazelle’s comedy-drama. Stone, who was nominated for an Oscar for her work as Best Supporting Actress in Birdman, is the 2/7 favourite with Coral.

With Stone out on her own, Natalie Portman with her fine display in Jackie as Jackie Kennedy is second favourite at 4/1 with BetVictor. Isabelle Huppert, who played the lead in Elle, is a tasty 11/1 outsider with BetVictor to take the gong.

However, after such a standout performance in La La Land, it’s very difficult to see past Stone for the Best Actress award. The 28-year-old has been a solid performer for a number of years, and she fully deserves to be recognised this year with her fine work under Chazelle in La La Land.